Cal Poly to Visit Northern Colorado on Saturday to Conclude 2013 Season
11/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly (5-6, 4-3 Big Sky), which had its slim playoff hopes dashed by No. 3 Eastern Washington in its home finale last week, wraps up its 2013 football season Saturday afternoon, visiting Northern Colorado (1-10, 0-7 Big Sky) at Nottingham Field (8,500) in Greeley, Colo. Kickoff is set for 11:05 a.m. PST.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio (1280 am) with Tom Barket providing the play-by-play and Eric Burdick serving as an analyst. Links for audio and video streams as well as live stats are available at www.GoPoly.com.
Coach Tim Walsh's Mustangs, who fell out of the top 25 in both the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll and The Sports Network media poll after losing to Yale 24-10 in early October, scored three times in the fourth quarter to stop a 35-point Eastern Washington run, but fell 35-22. Junior slotback Kristaan Ivory became the 16th Mustang to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for a single season, gaining 88 yards on 14 carries to lift his total to 1,028 yards. The Mustangs, who rushed for 313 yards against the Eagles, are No. 1 in the FCS in rushing (309 yards per game). Cal Poly's Triple Option has produced a pair of 100-yard rushers three times this season and has surpassed the 400-yard mark in rushing three times.
Northern Colorado suffered its 10th straight loss last week, falling 24-7 at No. 12 Northern Arizona. The Bears, who have lost 11 straight to the Lumberjacks, netted 340 yards in total offense and had one more first down than Northern Arizona, but were forced to punt eight times and converted just three of 13 third-down plays. Tromaine Dennis rushed for 94 yards on 22 carries while Seth Lobato completed 12 of 26 passes for 204 yards and Northern Colorado's lone score, a 77-yarder to Dimitri Stimphil early in the fourth quarter.
Northern Colorado defeated Langston 31-10 in its season opener. The Bears have scored at least 18 points in seven of the 10 games during their losing streak, but also have given up a minimum of 24 points in those 10 contests. Northern Colorado has been successful on fourth down just six times in 24 attempts and average just 89 yards per game on the ground.
Cal Poly's defense under second-year defensive coordinator Josh Brown produced some stingy numbers in five consecutive games before running into Eastern Washington last week. After surrendering 428 yards and 30 points per game in the first five weeks of the season, the Mustangs allowed just 12 points and 272 yards in their next five games. Cal Poly has recorded eight of its 12 interceptions in the last five weeks and the Mustangs held three recent opponents (Weber State, Montana, Sacramento State) to fewer than 100 rushing yards. Eastern Washington, averaging 536 yards and 41 points per game, was "held" to 486 yards and 35 points by the Mustangs last week.
Cal Poly football, presented by French Hospital Medical Center, finished 9-3 overall a year ago, falling 18-16 in the second round of the FCS playoffs to Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas. In earning their third FCS playoff berth, the Mustangs finished with a winning record for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons.
Cal Poly opened Fall Camp with 58 returning lettermen, including 17 players who started at least four games in 2012. Topping the list of returnees were a pair of second-team All-Big Sky honorees -- linebacker Johnny Millard and defensive tackle Sullivan Grosz -- and eight others who earned All-Big Sky honorable mention praise.
Junior Willie Tucker returned at wide receiver after leading the team with 28 catches a year ago while three of the five starters on the offensive front -- Giovanni Sani, Mike Freeman and Lefi Letuligasenoa -- returned as well. Tucker is lost for the season due to a knee injury. Also returning were junior Kristaan Ivory, the No. 2 rusher a year ago with 728 yards and eight touchdowns, and fellow slotback Cole Stanford with 241 rushing yards and 17 catches for 486 yards and four scores.
On defense, all four starting defensive linemen of a year ago -- ends Andrew Alcaraz (pictured above) and Jake Irwin plus tackles Grosz and Chris Lawrence -- returned. At linebacker, junior Nick Dzubnar moved from the outside to replace Kenneth Jackson in the middle (Mike) while Millard shifted from Will to Sam. Junior Cameron Ontko took over at Will. Eight of the nine defensive backs who played six or more games last fall returned along with senior three-year letterman Bijon Samoodi, who sat out the 2012 season with a hip injury.
Bobby Zalud, who handled all kicking duties (55-for-55 PATs, 12-for-16 field goals, 40.6 punting average), and return specialist Chris Nicholls (24.0 average per kickoff return, 8.5 average per punt return) returned as well.
With one game to go this season, Ivory is ranked No. 5 in the Big Sky and No. 34 in the FCS with his average of 93.5 rushing yards per contest. The junior is averaging 6.5 yards per carry, scored three touchdowns against San Diego on runs of 81, 2 and 61 yards en route to a 185-yard performance, accumulated 184 yards and one score against Portland State, made a career-high eight catches against Yale and scored three times, two via rushing and one on a pass, against Weber State, rushing for 100 yards. He added 121 yards in the loss at Montana and rushed for 118 yards, his fifth 100-yard game of the season and sixth of the year, against Sacramento State. Ivory also leads the Mustangs in receiving with 30 catches for 183 yards and a score.
Cal Poly's three linebackers top the chart in tackles. Middle linebacker Nick Dzubnar has a team-leading 104 tackles, 13 against UC Davis and 12 against Montana, while outside linebacker/rush end Johnny Millard has 93 stops, including a career-high 13 in the loss to Yale. Outside linebacker Cameron Ontko has made 91 tackles, 14 against the Grizzlies.
Brown, the third Mustang quarterback to start this season (Vince Moraga started the first two contests and is lost for the season with a knee injury while Dano Graves has made four starts), rebounded from a hip injury to lead Cal Poly to wins over UC Davis and Sacramento State. Brown rushed for 195 yards -- the most ever by a Mustang quarterback -- and three touchdowns against the Aggies, following up with four touchdown passes and 57 rushing yards against the Hornets. He replaced Graves in the fourth quarter against Eastern Washington and led the Mustangs on three scoring drives.
After averaging 29 points and 457 yards in its first six games, Cal Poly struggled offensively, scoring just 27 points and accumulating 755 total yards in narrow losses to Montana (21-14 in overtime) and Northern Arizona (17-13 on a 96-yard kickoff return early in the fourth quarter). The Mustangs rebounded with 414 rushing yards at UC Davis and 424 against Sacramento State, averaging 38 points in the two victories.
Special teams play has resulted in three Cal Poly field goals and a pair of Mustang punts blocked by the opposition, two Mustang punts and one kickoff returned for touchdowns and two punts hitting Cal Poly players and recovered by their foes.
Coached by Earnest Collins Jr. (third season at UNC (6-27), fifth season overall (14-39), Northern Colorado '96), Northern Colorado returned 39 lettermen, including 12 offensive and defensive starters, off last year's team which went 5-6 overall and finished tied for fifth in the Big Sky at 4-4, its best finish since joining the Big Sky in 2006. The Bears moved to Division I in 2004 as a member of the Great West Conference and have yet to earn an FCS playoff berth, but earned back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1997.
For the season, Dennis has rushed for 759 yards and six touchdowns while Lobato has completed 56 percent of his passes (175 of 313) for 2,514 yards and 15 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Stimphil leads the Bears in receiving with 57 catches for 948 yards and six scores. Will Jefferson Jr. has 46 catches, Jace Davis 44, Dennis 28 and Austin Wilbers 23. Tanner Ellingsen averages 43.2 yards per punt and Northern Colorado's defensive leaders are middle linebacker Clarence Bumpas with 97 tackles, weak-side linebacker Leilon Willingham with 86 tackles and strong-side linebacker Max Flores with 79 tackles. Free safety Kyle Griffin has three interceptions.
Northern Colorado is averaging 376 yards in total offense per game -- 89 on the ground and 287 through the air -- and scoring 20 points a contest while giving up 405 yards (137 rushing, 268 passing) and 30 points per game. Among famous UNC alumni are Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Vincent Jackson and ESPN reporter Ed Werder.
Collins was 8-12 as head coach at Alcorn State in 2009 and 2010. He is Northern Colorado's single-season school record-holder for punt return yards and was a student assistant coach in 1995 and secondary/special teams coach from 2000-02. Collins also was an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State (1996-99), Kansas (2003-06), Central Florida (2007) and Alcorn State (2008).
Cal Poly and Northern Colorado are meeting for the 11th time in football this weekend and the Mustangs own an 8-2 advantage in the series, winning the only four meetings between the two schools since Cal Poly moved to Division I in 1994. The series started in 1958 and Cal Poly won last year's meeting in San Luis Obispo, 56-28, scoring 14 points in each quarter. Deonte Williams rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns, Andre Broadous passed for two scores and Cal Poly accumulated 519 yards in total offense. Northern Colorado's last win against the Mustangs was a 14-13 decision in 1982 in San Luis Obispo. Walsh is 3-0 against Northern Colorado, including twice while he was head coach at Portland State, while Collins is 0-1 against Cal Poly.
The Mustangs, who also scored 14 points in each quarter against Northern Colorado in 2007 (a 56-21 victory in Alex G. Spanos Stadium), were picked by head coaches to finish fourth in the Big Sky and the best they can finish this season is tied for fourth with a victory and a Southern Utah loss to Northern Arizona.
Walsh, 2-2 in regular-season finales at Cal Poly, faced a difficult schedule this fall. The Mustangs' 12 opponents are 71-56 so far, led by Fresno State at 9-0 and Montana and Eastern Washington, both 9-2. Northern Arizona sports an 8-2 mark.
